Loop News Jamaica published an article on February 20, 2021 about a criminal probe that’s underway in JAMCOVID’s application breach. Here’s a summary:
The Government has initiated a criminal investigation into an alleged breach of the JAMCOVID application. The Ministry of National Security stated that under Jamaican law, they must ensure any unauthorised access to data is investigated and prosecuted under section 3 of the Cybercrimes Act.
Additionally, this matter has been referred to the Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency for further investigation.
The security ministry has outlined that:
- The database is hosted on an Amazon Web Services cloud server owned by the Jamaican Government.
- An independent review has been commissioned of the security of the system with results expected within the following 24 hours.
- The systems of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency were not in any way affected, compromised or exposed by the vulnerability.
Hugh Graham, the Opposition PNP through its spokesman of science, technology and commerce, demanded a thorough investigation into the matter despite the Government’s assurance that the matter had been rectified. He also stated that the Minister of National Security, Dr. Horace Chang must be prepared to address the Parliament about the reports that sensitive data of both Jamaicans and visitors were left on an unsecured server.
Source: loopjamaica.com
Contributed by Racquel Bailey from Jamaica. Racquel is a member of our Women in InfoSec Caribbean (WISC) initiative on Discord. WISC is a non-profit initiative supporting Caribbean women and girls to develop a career in Information Security.
Learn more about WISC at wiscaribbean.org.